Hi there.. my father Carl Carrigan escaped from Italy into Switzerland in 1944 after the fall of Mussolini. He was with his brother Paul and two friends and they were helped by the partisans in their escape over the mountains. while imprisoned in Italy he was in four different camps including Grupignano.. My family and I want to retrace some of his journey in 2014 and are looking for any information from people with a similar excperience or to locate any Allied/Partisan friendship groups that may have been formed after the war.. They went over via the Turlo Pass.. Can anyone help?
Hi there.. my father Carl Carrigan escaped from Italy into Switzerland in 1944 after the fall of Mussolini. He was with his brother Paul and two friends and they were helped by the partisans in their escape over the mountains. while imprisoned in Italy he was in four different camps including Grupignano.. My family and I want to retrace some of his journey in 2014 and are looking for any information from people with a similar excperience or to locate any Allied/Partisan friendship groups that may have been formed after the war.. They went over via the Turlo Pass.. Can anyone help? Hi there Cate, Welcome to the forum. Your best bet for an answer would be to start your own thread, and call it something akin to "Retracing Father's Escape from Italy to Switzerland" in the Italy section and I believe help will come out of the woodwork. Mark
Hi Cate, I assume this is your Father: CARRIGAN, CARL ALEXANDER Service Australian Army Service Number NX51288 Date of Birth 23 Oct 1913 Place of Birth INVERELL, NSW Date of Enlistment 26 Jun 1940 Locality on Enlistment WELBON Place of Enlistment PADDINGTON, NSW Next of Kin CARRIGAN, ALEXANDER Date of Discharge 14 Feb 1945 Rank Gunner Posting at Discharge 3 A T REGT WW2 Honours and Gallantry None for display Prisoner of War Yes And Your Uncle: Paul Carrigan Service Australian Army Service Number NX51289 Date of Birth 28 Jul 1917 Place of Birth MOREE, NSW Date of Enlistment 26 Jun 1940 Locality on Enlistment GARAH, NSW Place of Enlistment PADDINGTON, NSW Next of Kin CARRIGAN, ALEXANDER Date of Discharge 3 Aug 1945 Rank Gunner Posting at Discharge 5 AUSTRALIAN BASE ORDNANCE DEPOT WW2 Honours and Gallantry None for display Prisoner of War Yes If you live in Sydney I may be able to help you. 1 of the formations in the Sydney ANZAC Day March is that of Italian Partisans. I would suggest that you make contact with the NSW Branch of the RSL & request the contact details of the Italian Partisan Sub-Branch. They would be able to give you an insight into their activites & help provided to escaping allied POW's. Furthermore, the unit war diaries you seek are located in the AWM so a trip to Canberra may be worth your while. Also your Father's unit would have a unit association so I would suggest again the NSW RSL to obtain contact details (if you have not already done so) I have also just read your Father's Service record & POW questionaire & I must say , if you are retracing his footsteps, then you have 1 heck of a trip ahead of you, places like Bengazi etc in the middle East through to Capua in Italy & accross the Alps, not to mention a stop off in Bombay!!!. I see that he was released from service in 2/1945 for essential occupation, do you mind letting us know on the board what work he did when released? I may have some more info to provide later. Regards Simon
Hi Cate, That is a lot of info Simon has given you there. I can also tell you that the two brothers were held at Camp 106-Vercelli. This information comes from the file WO392/21, POW's of the Italian's as of August 1943. The file is held in the National Archives in London. I am at work right now, when I get home I will post the page with their details on. If you would like I can also have a look for the other men you mention as well, although I would guess the camp will be the same. Steve
Cate, If you can find something that confirms that during your Fathers time with the Partisans he angaged in an operation with them on his way through to switzerland, then you have a shot at getting him the Italy Star, which, would make his group fall into the "not often Seen/rare" catagory, as AIF did not have any formations fighting in Italy for the duration, just a few odd bods got it. Regards Simon
B43, You can view his war service file on line at the Australian National Archives, it is open Regards Simon
There may be some further information here in Bill Rudd's website: ANZAC POW Free Men in Europe - Welcome Letter http://www.aifpow.com/__data/page/606/Swiss_Alphabetical.pdf Cheers Geoff
As promised Cate, attached are the images from the lists, including a list of the camps. Hope this helps? Steve
Hi Cate, Welcome. Further to the kind suggestions provived to you from the other users of this forum, I may add this: I am an Italian researcher, I live not so far from Vercelli, and I am currently looking for stories of former POWs who escaped through the North-Western Alps, towards Switzerland. The Turlo Pass, or Passo del Turlo, is a very, very very ancient pass in Valsesia. Around the XIII sec. a stone path was created from the Walser inhabitants. Now this pass is part of the Monte Rosa Tour. Best regards, Marco
Hi Cate, Welcome. Further to the kind suggestions provived to you from the other users of this forum, I may add this: I am an Italian researcher, I live not so far from Vercelli, and I am currently looking for stories of former POWs who escaped through the North-Western Alps, towards Switzerland. The Turlo Pass, or Passo del Turlo, is a very, very very ancient pass in Valsesia. Around the XIII sec. a stone path was created from the Walser inhabitants. Now this pass is part of the Monte Rosa Tour. Best regards, Marco Hi Marco, Have you read the personal escape stories in Bill Rudd's website of those ANZAC lads in post number 9? Cheers Geoff
Hi Geoff, Yes. Furthermore, I have been in touch with Bill Rudd several months ago. His help was very precious for my search. Now, if I may provide help or information to other researchers or relatives, I am pleased to do so!
Hi... my father - Carl Carrigan - was an Australian POW in Italy from 1941 til 1944 when he escaped over the Italian alps into Switzerland with his brother Paul and friends Lloyd Ledingham and Ron Fitzgerald. he was in various POW camps incluidng Grupignanno and a farm near Milano. My family and I are keen to retrace at least some of the journey in 2014 to mark the 70th anniversary of the escape and are keen to find any Italian friends of POW groups or families of the partisans who helped many Allied POWS out of Italy at that time. As far as I can determine, they crossed at Mount Turlo. Hope you can help .. Cate Carrigan
Hi... my father - Carl Carrigan - was an Australian POW in Italy from 1941 til 1944 when he escaped over the Italian alps into Switzerland with his brother Paul and friends Lloyd Ledingham and Ron Fitzgerald. he was in various POW camps incluidng Grupignanno and a farm near Milano. My family and I are keen to retrace at least some of the journey in 2014 to mark the 70th anniversary of the escape and are keen to find any Italian friends of POW groups or families of the partisans who helped many Allied POWS out of Italy at that time. As far as I can determine, they crossed at Mount Turlo. Hope you can help .. Cate Carrigan Cate - there is lots of info on here and you might also want to take a look at Survivors of Camp 59 This is about a particular Camp at Servigliano but has a lot of info about PoWs who went on to other camps and indeed ended up escaping to Switzerland. You might want to take a look for instance at the story of Norman Davidson, whose son John tracked down the children of his helpers last year. I'm in contact with the webmaster so send me a pm if you have any queries As to rejoining after escaping - I've seen debriefings where it's clear there's some contempt for those who supposedly "bunked up" with the Italians rather than getting back into the fight. My own view is that given the horrors they'd already been through (most were captured in Africa often after dreadful battles and then suffered more in transit camps and transport ships), plus the weak state they were in after long periods of incarceration, it's not surprising that getting back into the fray wasn't always a priority. Others with more knowledge and experience (and to whom I defer) may hold different views
Unfortunately there is no Report available for your Father or his Brother but the other two you mention are as follows. NX51287 L/Bdr Ledingham 3rd A/T Rgt. A.I.F. Captured 8/4/1941 Mechelli. CAMPS:- PG 66 6/5/1941 - 13/5/1941 PG 78 13/5/41 - 17/7/41 PG 93 17/7/1941 - 25/10/1941 - PG 57 26/10/1941 - 11/4/1943 - PG 106/2 12/4/43 until Escape 11/9/1943. The details for NX51323 Gnr Fitgerald are Identical. All that is said regarding Journey to Switzerland is "after release made my way on foot across Mountains to Switzerland." Brian Hi... my father - Carl Carrigan - was an Australian POW in Italy from 1941 til 1944 when he escaped over the Italian alps into Switzerland with his brother Paul and friends Lloyd Ledingham and Ron Fitzgerald. he was in various POW camps incluidng Grupignanno and a farm near Milano. My family and I are keen to retrace at least some of the journey in 2014 to mark the 70th anniversary of the escape and are keen to find any Italian friends of POW groups or families of the partisans who helped many Allied POWS out of Italy at that time. As far as I can determine, they crossed at Mount Turlo. Hope you can help .. Cate Carrigan
Hi Simon.. thanks so much. We are thinking of doing just some of the Italian section -- I think we'll leave Libya outr of it. I'll have to go and read his service record and POW questionnaire - I haven't sighted thos. I do live in Sydney and will try to get in contact with the partisan group.. Cate
Hi Simon.. When dad got ton Switzerland her was a farrier. In Australia he was a farmer - specifically sheep for wool and meat. How can I get hold of Dad's war questionnaire and the other info you quickly located? I haven't seen that material. Best Cate
You can also write to the Swiss authorities at Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports, Bundeshaus Ost CH3003. BERN In my fathers case the file had a photograph together with places held at.
Hi Cate, Good to see your posting as I have been trying to find families of men who were alongside my father in Italy, he was nX60337 Colin Booth. The Carrigan brothers crossed the border into Switzerland same day as my father but as part of a different small group. I have also made contact with two other of the men recently who knew the Carrigans. Please be in contact! Katrina
